botanyoneEdible banana varieties underwent a series of bottlenecks during their evolution and domestication, resulting in a number of original genotypes that diversified clonally. Sardos et al. have genotyped more than 500 cultivated bananas and wild relatives using DArT markers.
They identified two main genetic clusters in the cultivated genepool of edible diploids that question the occurrence of two key centres of domestication, in New-Guinea and south-east Asia. Polyclonal subgroups were also identified, further highlighting evolutionary differences in the emergence of current edible banana cultivars.
Lulu Stader
